Buzzardo In Texas
by Imaginos-Buzzardo-Desdinova
Summary: After fleeing New Hampshire following an incident involving his avian form, Imaginos finds himself in the state of Texas, still at the age of six years old.


BUZZARDO IN TEXAS:

(sequel to Modified)

CHAPTER 01:

High above the Texas border, a young English buzzard circled, watching the other raptors as they swooped to the ground, returning to the air with struggling animals in their grip. He did not know what they were doing at first. But soon, as one of them landed with their catch and began to peck and rip at it, he realized that they were catching their food.

Disgusting! That was Buzzardo's opinion! How any living thing could eat something raw and covered with fur or feathers was beyond him! There was no way he was going to eat like that. He thought about taking his human for and looking for a handout. But they might as where he was from. And saying that he had come all the way from New Hampshire to Texas by himself would bring up some questions that he could not answer.

No. He could not resume his human shape. At least not until he was older and able to defend himself. But that didn't mean he couldn't get human food. Surely someone would have something he could swipe. He knew stealing was wrong. But it was bound to be better than raw rabbit.

His eyes were very good in this form and he could see a small town not too far from where he was. Making his way there, he swooped low a few times, catching glimpses of what each home had on their kitchen windowsills. Mostly pies filled with apple or peach. Buzzards did not eat pies. Not to mention, they were too hot.

He flew near one home and the smell of fresh cooked meat met his senses. Nothing in his life had smelled so wonderful! He had been on the run for days and was nearly starved now that he had time to think of food.

He flew to the house where the delicious aroma was coming from and into the window, startling the old woman who was preparing her solitary meal. There was a picture on her dresser. A man in uniform.

Nora looked at the raptor that had flown through her window. She had studied birds of prey and she knew this one was a lot smaller and thinner than he ought to have been.

"You hungry?" she asked, taking a plate of meat and setting it on the floor.

The bird looked at her, seeming almost offended at having to eat off the floor. Then, as if deciding it was okay, after all, he began to quickly devour the meal he'd been offered.

"I guess you were hungry, weren't you?" Nora asked. "Well, you're fed now. Time for you to find a place to sleep."

The bird hopped over to her bed, made a nest of sorts out of the blankets, and curled up.

"Oh, no," Nora said. "No, sir. You are not sleeping in my bed. It has enough feathers in it already, it does not need yours."

Nora turned to get her broom, hoping to scare the bird off the bed. She didn't hate the creature. But it was one thing to feed a starving animal, and another thing to keep that animal as a pet. It could sleep in her yard, if it wanted to remain close. And she would try to remember what he late husband had taught her about how a bird of prey learned to hunt later so she could teach it.

"Please?" a desperate pleading voice asked.

She turned and looked into the dark almost-ebony eyes of a forlorn child.

"Who are you?" she asked.

The cold made the boy throw caution to the wind. And he was sure she wouldn't recognize his name anyhow. "My name is Imaginos. I'm really tired and I don't want to sleep in a tree again. It gets really cold at night. Please, ma'am? I can help with chores."

"We'll talk about chores in the morning," she told him. "You cannot sleep in my bed, I'm afraid. I take up the whole thing and my back pains me something fierce if I sleep anywhere else. But most folks around these parts aren't too keen on witchy types, so you'd better stay here tonight, and don't go around doing that bird trick. Not unless you like knowing what chicken soup is like from the chicken's point of view."

Imaginos didn't bother correcting her on what species of bird he actually was in his avian form.

"If you want," Nora said. "I will give you some blankets. You can make a mattress of two of them and cover yourself with the third."

"Thank you," Imaginos told her.

"You have an east coast accent," Nora told him as he made himself comfortable. "Where are your parents?"

"New Hampshire," Imaginos said, as he fell asleep.

CHAPTER 02:

Nora woke the next morning to find Imaginos still sound asleep. It did not surprise her. If he had come all the way from New Hampshire by himself, he was bound to be afraid and exhausted.

She set the table and began to make a pot of oatmeal for the both of them. It was cold out and a hot breakfast would do them both a world of good.

Soon the pot was warm and steaming. She ladled two bowlfuls and put them on the table along with two spoons and a small pot of honey.

"Wake up, little one," she said, giving Imaginos a shake. The local women's club would be there soon and she wasn't sure if she wanted to explain what a strange child (strange indeed!) sleeping on her floor. While they enjoyed baking and sewing, most of them also enjoyed a bit of tale-telling. And it would not be unheard of for one of them to announce the boy's presence to the rest of the town.

On the other hand, it might be good for the boy, what was his name? Imaginos. A unique name for a unique child. Perhaps he would have a better chance of survival if others knew he was there. If only she could keep his wonderful gift a secret. She suspected that he'd been ostracized from his home for that very gift.

She wondered if his own mother had been one of those who had sent him away. She didn't think so. She suspected that the woman probably had stayed behind so he could flee faster using his wings than walk away. Or had he simply not given her the choice?

Imaginos opened his eyes and stood up, wiping the sleep away. "Good morning, ma'am."

"Good morning, Imaginos," she said. "Breakfast is ready. It's oatmeal and honey."

"Thank you," Imaginos sat at the table with her. They said grace, then tucked into their food.

"It's good," Imaginos said. "I've never had it with honey before. My mom always made it with maple syrup that one of the stores got from Vermont."

"That sounds sweet and yummy, too" Nora told him. "After morning chores are done, I want you to change into Buzzardo. Then we'll go to the fields and you can learn how to hunt and kill. I'm old and I won't always be around to feed and shelter you. We need to teach you basic survival skills for a bird of prey."

"But I don't want to eat icky things!" Imaginos whined.

"I think you'll find them quite tasty as Buzzardo, dear," Nora assured him. "Your pallet as a bird is quite different from that of a human being. But for now, eat your oatmeal. Then we'll get a start to the day."

CHAPTER 03:

The fledgeling falcon soared through the skies, trying little darts and swoops as it made its first, and last, flight from its mother's nest. The clouds were white, the sun was golden yellow, and the sky itself was a pale blue.

"There's your prey," Nora told Buzzardo who was standing on a post of the fence that surrounded the pasture they were standing by.

Buzzardo looked quizzically at her. Then he looked up at the little falcon with determination and took flight. Higher and higher he flew, until he was above the smaller bird. Then he dove, talons extended, missing his prey as it dodged him at the last second. The wind caught him and he rose effortlessly back into attack position. Another dive, another miss. This was getting discouraging. But he wasn't going to give up so easily. Once more he dove toward his prey, this time catching the smaller bird in his talons. Happy at his first successful hunt, he landed and let out a mew at Nora.

"Good job," she told him as he pecked at the falcon until it lay motionless and dead before him. "Go ahead and enjoy."

Buzzardo looked up at her and tilted his head to one side.

"No, I'm not going to cook it for you," she told him, guessing what was on his mind. "You have to learn to enjoy it the way a real bird of prey would. Now, just open it up with your beak and feast to your heart's content."

Buzzardo looked dubiously at his kill, then began to rip it open and take a nibble. It wasn't bad, he decided. It wasn't bad at all.

Nora watched as the raptor finished off his prey. Then she smiled.

"Well done," she told him. "Now you can survive on your own. Just keep doing that whenever you're hungry."

She started to leave, then heard the sound of wings behind her.

Buzzardo was following her.

"Where do you think you're going?" she asked, sternly.

Buzzardo landed and looked at her in bemusement.

"Go on," she said, shooing him. "Go on. You're perfectly capable of taking care of yourself."

She turned and began to walk away again.

"Please, ma'am," Imaginos pleaded. "It's cold outside."

Nora turned to the child, her heart aching for him, all alone in the world with his family all the way back east in New Hampshire.

Crouching down, she extended her arms to him and he hurried to her, letting her give him a hug.

"We'll just have to find a way to explain what you're doing at my place," she decided. "I can't tell people you're a nephew. They know I have no sisters or brothers. And if I tell them you're a lost orphan, they might put you in an orphanage."

"So, what are you going to do?" Imaginos was worried. He didn't want to go to an orphanage. He wished he hadn't lost his temper with Henry. That he hadn't attacked him as Buzzardo. But Henry had slapped him quite hard, and he wasn't going to just accept it, either.

"I suppose I'll have to petition to adopt you," she said. "I'm not really single since I once had a husband. Truth is, I've always wanted a little boy, but I was never able to have one. Maybe this is God's will."

"God is nice," Imaginos told her.

"Yes he is," Nora agreed. But then she thought of her late husband. "Sometimes."

CHAPTER 04:

Nora took Imaginos to the town council the next morning. There was, she decided, no point in her waiting or making him wait. The sooner he had a stable home the better.

Fredrick Mason was the head of the council. Stern but fair, he had held that position for five years running. And in his case, running meant running. He took every problem, every suggestion, and every proposed solution to heart. He represented his town in every way possible.

He looked out the window at the bright Texas morning and saw something unexpected.

Nora Whittaker was coming towards the council hall. This was not unusual. She often stopped by. Sometimes bringing homemade pastries for Fredrick and his wife Mary. Today, however, there was a little boy with her. Fredrick guessed him to be no more than ten, and likely younger than that. He wasn't from around the area. He and his wife had a girl who was seven, and they knew all the children around that age from the school picnics she'd attended. This boy had never been to any of them. He wasn't even dressed in area clothes. In fact, he looked downright shabby. Fredrick guessed he must have wandered a long way. And Nora had found him and taken him in. Of course she'd have no way of providing new clothes for him in one day. But he had no doubt of her intentions.

"Good morning, Mrs. Whittaker," he said, cheerfully. "And who is this fine young fellow?"

Nora looked down at the boy beside her, smiling her okay to him.

"Imaginos," the boy replied.

"What a wonderful name," Fredrick said, cheerfully. "Imaginos. Tell me, how do you like Mrs. Whittaker?"

"She's very nice," Imaginos said, honestly. "She gave me breakfast and dinner and we went and saw the falcons." He was careful not to mention why they went to see the falcons.

"I assume you came to adopt the child," Fredrick guessed. "You know the laws against single parent adoption."

Imaginos looked rather upset and disappointed at this.

"However," Fredrick continued, "I can give you legal permanent guardianship of Imaginos. You would be his mother in all but name. I know it's not what you both want, but it's the best I can do."

"So, he can't be taken away," Nora said.

"No," Fredrick replied. "He will be yours forever, unless his actual mother comes for him."

"I doubt she will," Nora replied. "She's in New Hampshire."

CHAPTER 05:

After they left the council hall, Nora smiled at her foster child. "The next place we're going is to my women's club. Now, I expect you to be on your best behavior. You're allowed to ask questions, of course. That's how you learn. But you can also learn by being quiet and observing."

"Like when I hunt when I'm a bird?" Imaginos asked.

"Yes, just like that," Nora said. "Just remember not to talk about that, okay. People are rather closed-minded when they hear about stuff of that nature."

"Okay, ma'am," Imaginos replied.

"Look," Nora said, "as long as you're going to be my foster child, we should come up with something better than ma'am for you to call me. Mom is wrong, since you're not official my child and would make too many eyebrows go up. Especially at my age."

"Can I call you Grandma?" Imaginos asked, hopeful.

"That will do nicely," Nora decided. "It feels like family and keeps things above board as far as the social aspect is concerned. I should warn you, however, that Imaginos is not a name that most old ladies find easy to remember. So one or two might just end up calling you Maggie."

"Oh no…" Imaginos groaned. "The end of the world will be at hand if that happens. Rabbits will fall from the sky!"

Nora tried to hide her laughter, but it soon tumbled out, and Imaginos joined in.

"Come along, then, Imaginos," Nora finally said. "We don't wish to be late."

They walked along the dusty road and were just passing the church when a woman in her sixties approached them.

"Well, well, Mrs. Whittaker," she said, "it's so nice to see you. And who is this fine fellow?"

"Imaginos," Nora told the boy at her side, "say hello to Mrs. Burke."

"Hello," Imaginos told her.

"What a charming fellow," Mrs. Burke said, approvingly. "Are you babysitting?"

"No, she's birdwatching," Imaginos said, a twinge of annoyance at the baby part of the word.

Nora gave him a stern look. "Actually, we are planning to do a bit of that later, if he improves his attitude."

"It's okay," Mrs. Burke smiled. She looked around as if about to share a secret, then stage-whispered to Imaginos "I didn't like being treated like a child when I was six either. You behave yourself, now, Maggie."

Imaginos looked up and whispered to Nora, "Here come the bunnies."


End file.
